A senior churchman in Britain has added his voice to the growing calls for ministers to reconsider new late-night drinking.
The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, said he saw the "validity" of staggering closing times.
But he said: "At the same time I think there is a real danger that more people - because there is so much more money around - will buy more drink and that we will have more excess drinking rather than less."
And he added: "If that is the case then that really is a disastrous effect and another example really of the Government not treating alcohol as a serious drug."
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats want Labour MPs to join them in delaying the licensing laws, which come in to force in November.
Nine out of 10 pubs across England and Wales have applied to stay open beyond the traditional 11pm last orders.
Ministers say the change will end Britain's binge-drinking culture and make towns easier to police by staggering the times people hit the streets.
However, senior officers and judges have warned longer opening could fuel sex attacks and violence.
More than half of all ambulance call-outs in Manchester each evening and over the weekend were to alcohol-related incidents, the Bishop said. And at one of the city's hospitals 80% of outpatients each night are there because of drinking-related injuries.
There is nothing wrong with drinking in moderation, as the Bible makes clear, the Rt Rev McCulloch said. "What is wrong is excessive drinking," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
PA